Mr Briggs, who is also the Government’s business champion for older workers, said employers should publish their workforce data by age.

Aviva, Atos, Barclays, The Co-operative Group, Home Instead Senior Care, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), Mercer, and Walgreens Boots Alliance are the first employers to publicly pledge their commitment to meeting this target and have already published their age data.

Mr Briggs said: “The UK is facing a colossal skills gap, and older workers are vital to filling it. Businesses can show leadership here, through committing to real change and actively seeking to recruit more over 50s into their organisations.”

Bringing more people over the age of 55 into the workforce could also boost the UK economy by £80bn, says PwC.

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The professional services giant conducted the research for its Golden Age Index, which found the UK’s employment rate for 50 to 64-year-olds is currently 70 per cent, with England faring best at 70.6 per cent and Northern Ireland worst at 63.6 per cent.

PwC said matching Sweden, the best-performing EU nation in the list at 82 per cent, could deliver the extra £80bn, boosting the UK’s GDP by 4.2 per cent.

The company’s chief economist John Hawksworth said: “As the number of people over 55 continues to grow steadily and life expectancy increases, the UK needs to make it as easy as possible for people to continue working for longer if they wish to do so.

There is a growing appreciation for older workers' skills and experience

“This would boost both GDP and tax revenues, so helping to pay for the increased health, social care and pension costs of an ageing population.”

There are almost a million people aged between 50 and 64 who are not in employment, says a report published by the Department of Work and Pensions, but state they are willing to or would like to work.

Someone in their early 50s, however, can potentially stay with their employer for 15 to 20 years or longer, says the report.

Despite this, 11.3 per cent of those starting an apprenticeship in 2015/16 were aged between 45 and 59, while less than one per cent were aged 60 years and over.

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Banking giant Barclays has established the Barclays Bolder Apprenticeship programme - designed to extend opportunities for apprenticeships across the organisations, specifically providing support for adults over the age of 24 wishing to get back into the workplace.

Mike Thompson, director of apprenticeships at Barclays, said: “Once out of work, older workers face a much tougher task to find the opportunities to get back into full employment again.

“We believe that age or social circumstances shouldn’t be a barrier or deciding factor in finding a viable route to employment. Re-skilling can be achieved at any age.

To date, Barclays has recruited 89 Bolder Apprentices since its launch in 2015.

Some of the big accountancy firms are also offering apprentices that don’t have an age cap. EY, KPMG and PwC all offer similar opportunities for those looking for a career in finance.

EY currently supports experienced professionals who have taken a career break of between two and 10 years, to return to the professional workplace.

EY Reconnect is a 12 week paid programme that offers training, mentoring and coaching, while working on live client projects, and the opportunity of a permanent position on completion. The programme is targeted at former managers.

Successful applicants will work towards an apprenticeship and a globally recognised accountancy qualification, on a structured programme that will offer on-the- job coaching and the opportunity to work with EY clients from day one.

The full-time role will have a starting salary of up to £21,500 and the career path and experiences will be the same as for graduates.

Vacancies are available in Bristol as well as other cities across the UK, including Leeds, Newcastle, Cambridge, Reading, London and Manchester.

Sally Bucknall, EY director, Diversity & Inclusiveness said: “There are professionals with rich experience and wisdom that have taken some time out, for whatever reason, and are ready to return to the workplace.

“In our industry it is common to lose talent at manager and senior manager level. EY Reconnect offers a structured route back into the profession, whilst helping us to attract talented individuals with diverse perspectives that can add value to our people, our business and our clients.”

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PwC has increased the number of places on its ‘Back to Business’ return to work programme tenfold to help get more talented women back into the workplace after career breaks.

The 16 week paid senior return to work programme started in PwC’s Deals business and due to its success is being extended to all of the firm’s business areas.

Some 75 per cent of the first intake have taken on permanent roles in PwC’s Deals business. The programme aims to help bring senior professional women back into the workplace who have had a career break of more than two years, but is open to all.

KPMG’s Return to Work scheme also entails a 12 week internship programme for people looking to return to the workforce after an extended career break. While it tends to attract women, the scheme does not have an age limit.

Opportunities however are not limited to the professional services sector.

BT’s Openreach is recruiting 150 trainees to join its engineering workforce by October.

The local network business, which is part of BT Group, is seeking recruits to fill new, full-time and permanent roles to extend its fibre broadband network and improve customer service.

It is part of a UK-wide initiative to hire 1,500 trainee engineers over the next eight months. So far the scheme has attracted 35 trainees aged over 50.

National Express runs a scheme to recruit people for whom age and extended career breaks can pose a barrier to finding employment, including the over-50s, women returning to work after raising children, the long-term unemployed and full-time carers.

Case study - Duncan Foster, 48

Duncan Foster was a Barclays Bolder Apprentice in the collections team before successfully completing the programme and staying on with the organisation at its Piccadilly Place site in Manchester.

Duncan gave up his career to look after his children for 12 years, allowing his wife the opportunity to strengthen her own company while the children were being taken care of.

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He valued his time at home with the children but felt he still had something to offer in the workplace. He became dejected after applying for numerous jobs, only to be told his skills were out of date and he lacked recent experience. He then heard about the Barclays Bolder Apprenticeship Scheme and knew it fitted his circumstances perfectly. He is now proud to have completed the Advanced Level Apprenticeship in Banking in the Finance Service and Accounting Sectors and has a permanent job with Barclays.

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Case study - Graham Chapman, 52

Graham Chapman is a trainee engineer with Openreach at the age of 52.

What did you do before working for Openreach? "I was a hospital porter and before that I was in the army for 27 years in the Duke of Lancaster regiment. I did three tours of Northern Ireland and was involved in the Gulf, Bosnia and Iraq wars."

Why did you choose a career in engineering? "I thought that it would be interesting. I wanted an interesting job to take me up to retirement. I went to quite a few companies and I found a lot ageist. Plus a lot of the time I was told I was over qualified. Openreach was one of the few companies who valued someone with experience."

What do you do? "I’m a trainee customer facing engineer who installs high-speed fibre broadband and phone lines into a customer’s house or business. I also fix faults."

How long have you done your current job for? "I started as a trainee in April 2017."

Tell us something interesting about yourself? "In my spare time I’m a karaoke DJ for weddings, birthdays and other special occasions."

What do you like most about the job? "I really enjoy problem solving, working out what the issue is and how to solve it. I also enjoy dealing with the public and providing them with a good service."

What do you like least? "It’s too early to say at the moment."

Future plans? Working for Openreach. I would like to use my previous experience to get into some sort of management role and maybe in recruitment as I have experience there.